Israeli Women Get Naked (For A Good Cause)

Middle Eastern women need to stick together. That's why it makes me so happy to see that forty Israeli women have taken all their clothes off to support an Egyptian woman who posted nude photographs of herself in a protest against the repression of women in Egypt.

The naked Israeli ladies are Jewish and Arab, straight and lesbian, and they are shown here, with a nice big banner to cover them up decently for the camera:

Don't they look wonderful, and happy! Kol ha-kavod!

Miss Israel 1953: Chavatzelet Dror

Born 1934, in Austria, Chavatzelet Dror, whose alluring smile you can see above, was the first soldier to be Miss Israel. Wikipedia says the first soldier to compete, but I'm not sure that can be true. She went on to the Miss World competition, where you can see her standing between Miss Greece and Miss France. Doesn't she have wonderful style and poise? That short haircut is very charming. Just think: five years after the State of Israel struggled into existence, they were sending their soldiers to compete in beauty pageants. For me, this is the essence of Jewish women, this ability to be strong and feminine at the same time.

Her runner-up was Miriam Gershoni. She is a beautiful girl, but all I can think when I see this picture is that I'm so happy that very boned and corseted shape for dresses went out of fashion!

I have only been able to find out a little about the contestants in these early contests. If you know more, please let me know at juliette.bensimon@yahoo.com. I'll be happy to add any information, and credit you.

A Little Taste of Paradise

Really, I'm not only into shoes and eyeshadow. I also like to eat! For Shabat brunch this week, I made a pasta salad with olives and feta cheese. I finally tried the Pastures of Eden feta that Alisa has been telling me about, and it's good, very good.

First of all, it's kosher, and it's made in Israel, which immediately makes it terrific! And they carry it at the Trader Joe's on Geary, which makes it even more terrific. And it's still Buy Israel Week through tomorrow, so this is a great time to get some. (Of course, you can still buy it after tomorrow.) This is a delicious way to make the ugly BDS campaigns even less effective.

But enough politics. What is the cheese like? It's a sheep's milk feta, not goat, so it's a little different. The website describes it as a 'Balkan style feta'. It's milder to my taste than the Greek-style feta, less tangy, and also less salty. It's also got a softer texture, and seems to crumble a little differently. It has a wonderful flavor, and it worked beautifully in the salad. Next, I think I'll try it with a tomato salad.

Chanel: Bois Des Iles

I put away my summer clothes with a sigh. But every fall, when the cold creeps in...and the cold does creep, even here in California, where my family in France thinks it's eighty degrees all year round...I'm so glad to reach for my bottle of Chanel's great Bois des Iles. 

What can you truly say about a classic, and a quirky one like this? Perfume bloggers like Bois de Jasmin have described this in such beautiful words, that I can hardly add anything. It's one of my favorite scents for fall and winter, and it reminds me of this picture, so full of light and darkness, and golden woods.